Mining Question..Coal ...Iron?

The Parksider · Post by **The Parksider** » Fri 31 Dec, 2010 4:17 pm

grumpytramp wrote: The Parksider wrote: I'm off to have a beer at Shadwell Miners Welfare now..... Sorry to disapoint there are no collieries or iron mines in Shadwell. The older part of the village (western) sits on the outcrops of Rough Rock Flags while the remainder of the village to the east sits on probably the outcrop of Guiseley Grit. These are at the top of the Millstone Grit series, below the overlaying Coal Measures (which have been eroded during the various ice ages). While coal seams do exist in the Millstone Grit series, and some have been economically expoited (charachterised as being very variable, localised and generally exceptionally poor quality), there are none exposed at Shadwell and there has been no mining activity here. Comments duly noted and thank you as always. The Horsforth and Rawdon mines are I assume in the grit. The coal bits I got from a rawdon mine wouldn't light with a blowtorch!!If you get time I'm still a bit foxed on Wyke Becks re-alignment from it's natural channel. Both older maps in burts book seem to show the wyke as a natural wiggly course and not straight as the later that century OS maps show it (with a supposed "old channel"). Yet we believe the straightening was Mathers Leat for a corn mill.However I do not know what inaccuracies or artistic licence the mapmakers had - or any inclination not to show un-natural features.

Brunel · Post by **Brunel** » Sat 01 Jan, 2011 5:39 pm

To clarify the location of the Ochre/Orange stain, I returned today with my GPS gadget.Lots of info provided here for the "dedicated" map enthusiast.http://toolserver.org/~geohack/geohack. ... 29_37.91_W

Brunel · Post by **Brunel** » Tue 04 Jan, 2011 2:09 am

Dan Quarry is still alive and well:http://www.flickr.com/photos/ikbrunels/ ... /According to my calculations it is as near as dammit due north of where the ochre/orange stain appears, but 61 mtrs. higher.

The Parksider · Post by **The Parksider** » Thu 06 Jan, 2011 8:33 am

grumpytramp wrote: Sorry to disapoint there are no collieries or iron mines in Shadwell. While coal seams do exist in the Millstone Grit series, and some have been economically expoited there are none exposed at Shadwell and there has been no mining activity here.With regards to Colliers Lane, it was always my understanding that like the Coal Road to the north east, that this was a principal pack route for coals won at Whinmoor, Halton and Crossgates Fully understood and appreciated. I felt "Colliers Lane" could be wood colliers off to the park to ply their charcoal making trade. As for a coal route the coal road itself crosses the wetherby road and runs down to the east end of shadwell.The additional suprise for me is the presence of "Pits Wood" alongside Colliers Lane??? Intriguing!!

Leodian · Post by **Leodian** » Thu 06 Jan, 2011 2:18 pm

The Parksider wrote: grumpytramp wrote: Sorry to disapoint there are no collieries or iron mines in Shadwell. While coal seams do exist in the Millstone Grit series, and some have been economically expoited there are none exposed at Shadwell and there has been no mining activity here.With regards to Colliers Lane, it was always my understanding that like the Coal Road to the north east, that this was a principal pack route for coals won at Whinmoor, Halton and Crossgates Fully understood and appreciated. I felt "Colliers Lane" could be wood colliers off to the park to ply their charcoal making trade. As for a coal route the coal road itself crosses the wetherby road and runs down to the east end of shadwell.The additional suprise for me is the presence of "Pits Wood" alongside Colliers Lane??? Intriguing!! I'd also spotted Pits Wood and was intrigued by that. Talking of charcoal there has been (may still be) some production of charcoal in the last year or so at a site in Ox Close Woocl near East Keswick.

Post by **chameleon** » Thu 06 Jan, 2011 2:27 pm

The Parksider wrote: grumpytramp wrote: The Parksider wrote: I'm off to have a beer at Shadwell Miners Welfare now..... Sorry to disapoint there are no collieries or iron mines in Shadwell. The older part of the village (western) sits on the outcrops of Rough Rock Flags while the remainder of the village to the east sits on probably the outcrop of Guiseley Grit. These are at the top of the Millstone Grit series, below the overlaying Coal Measures (which have been eroded during the various ice ages). While coal seams do exist in the Millstone Grit series, and some have been economically expoited (charachterised as being very variable, localised and generally exceptionally poor quality), there are none exposed at Shadwell and there has been no mining activity here. Comments duly noted and thank you as always. The Horsforth and Rawdon mines are I assume in the grit. The coal bits I got from a rawdon mine wouldn't light with a blowtorch!!If you get time I'm still a bit foxed on Wyke Becks re-alignment from it's natural channel. Both older maps in burts book seem to show the wyke as a natural wiggly course and not straight as the later that century OS maps show it (with a supposed "old channel"). Yet we believe the straightening was Mathers Leat for a corn mill.However I do not know what inaccuracies or artistic licence the mapmakers had - or any inclination not to show un-natural features. I recall at one time we were happy that the leat ran to the east of the natural beck but then on old maps, did not the 'original'channel suddenly show as straightened?

Post by **chameleon** » Thu 06 Jan, 2011 2:29 pm

The Parksider wrote: grumpytramp wrote: Sorry to disapoint there are no collieries or iron mines in Shadwell. While coal seams do exist in the Millstone Grit series, and some have been economically expoited there are none exposed at Shadwell and there has been no mining activity here.With regards to Colliers Lane, it was always my understanding that like the Coal Road to the north east, that this was a principal pack route for coals won at Whinmoor, Halton and Crossgates Fully understood and appreciated. I felt "Colliers Lane" could be wood colliers off to the park to ply their charcoal making trade. As for a coal route the coal road itself crosses the wetherby road and runs down to the east end of shadwell.The additional suprise for me is the presence of "Pits Wood" alongside Colliers Lane??? Intriguing!! ....and is documented variously as the route for hauling coal from Temple Newsam (at least) to Harewood.

Post by **chameleon** » Thu 06 Jan, 2011 6:27 pm

chameleon wrote: The Parksider wrote: grumpytramp wrote: Sorry to disapoint there are no collieries or iron mines in Shadwell. While coal seams do exist in the Millstone Grit series, and some have been economically expoited there are none exposed at Shadwell and there has been no mining activity here.With regards to Colliers Lane, it was always my understanding that like the Coal Road to the north east, that this was a principal pack route for coals won at Whinmoor, Halton and Crossgates Fully understood and appreciated. I felt "Colliers Lane" could be wood colliers off to the park to ply their charcoal making trade. As for a coal route the coal road itself crosses the wetherby road and runs down to the east end of shadwell.The additional suprise for me is the presence of "Pits Wood" alongside Colliers Lane??? Intriguing!! ....and is documented variously as the route for hauling coal from Temple Newsam (at least) to Harewood. Taken from Alan Noble's 'Memories of Seacroft as a Village 1926 - 1947' which I first posted some three years ago and which has been reposted here several times:'Grandma and Grandad had sixteen children, thirteen girls lived and one son. They had their own pew in Shadwell Church and were all very religious. Every evening one had read a passage of the Bible. Part of Grandad’s tenancy was when harvest was finished he had to cart so many loads of coal from Barnbow Pit to Harewood House. Hence "The Coal Road’. Passing in to York Road, he had a toll of 1/2d wheel to pay at the Toll House [which as a lot of people remember, is where Mrs Ibbotson (who is still around at 93 and often talks to me about my mother) lived]'.

grumpytramp · Post by **grumpytramp** » Sat 08 Jan, 2011 1:18 am

The Parksider wrote: The additional suprise for me is the presence of "Pits Wood" alongside Colliers Lane??? Intriguing!! ParkieYou're a wee tinker

......... you start me doubting myself with discoveries like that and even worse when I look at the sattelite images at Google Maps of Pits Wood and uncover one of the embedded photos taken in the woods:http://www.panoramio.com/photo/31318428A quick check of my geological resources, thankfully have settled my doubts Are the clearly man made undulations in Pits Wood bell pits? .......... No!Pits Wood sits on an exposure of the Rough Rock Flags almost at the the top of Millstone Grit series and below the Lower Coal Measures. The Rough Rock Flags were exploited around Shadwell fo use as Tilestone (roofing) and Flagstone (flooring). I believe that this is primitive artisan workings to win flags, the voids being excavations and the mounds being the waste overburdenThe woods are well established in the 1st Series OS maps so one presumes that the Rough Rock Flags were worked in Pre-victorian times when there after I presume Welsh/Cumbrian Slate became the cheaper and prefered material of choice for roofing (which I guess with their lower loading on a roof gave an additional saving by requiring less substantial timber support in the roof)It seems that Shadwell was very well blessed with building materials between the local won Guiseley Grit for walls, local won Rough Rock Flags for roofing/floors and lime from the Seacroft limestone workings for mortor, render and whitewash

The Parksider · Post by **The Parksider** » Sat 08 Jan, 2011 9:13 pm

grumpytramp wrote: ParkieYou're a wee tinker :-)I believe that this is primitive artisan workings to win flags, the voids being excavations and the mounds being the waste overburden A "flag mine" the extraction industries in Leeds just go on and on!I have tonight noticed clay pits on St.Helens Lane in Adel when looking at Scotland Mill.I wonder if you will have time to check my query re-wyke beck on the East Leeds thread.The beck was straightened and you felt that that may have been the leat from the weir, with the old course of the Wyke drying up. Both pre-OS maps in burts book do not show anything other than a windy wyke beck - not even straight.I'm happy to accept that those who mapped pre O.S. could have been selective in feature and inaccurate in detail, just wanted your thoughts.....